Heimdall-class Frigate
The Heimdall-class Frigate was the first new ship design of Reyes-McLees Shipyards prior to the Remnant War, being a test bed for what was soon to be normal technology for capital ships. Using Sangheili and Huragok technicians, they finally created not only highly improved reactor but also an adaptable shield generator, making it the first UNSC vessel to be outfitted with an energy shield. Outwards, it appeared little different from the older Frigates of the UNSC and retained similar armaments. The first ship of the line, The Heimdall, saw action while on patrol at Kanna, destroying a pirate frigate in a trade of fire and crippling another. The ship soon began to come into mass production, with existing frigates being refitted into Heimdall class vessels. In co-operation with Shaw-Fujikawa Drives Inc., it was out fitted with the Model 52, a highly improved slipspace drive formerly used only on experimental vessels. It was further armed with a powerful millimetre wave RADAR, threat detection LIDAR and a deep scan Thermal/energy wave scanner which can pick up traces of thermal energy and energy spikes from slipspace and energy weapon operations. The ship is also armed with HOPE launchers for high orbit or low level insertion. External Layout Externally, it is of a standard layout of a UNSC vessel, being largely narrow and focusing on length over width in design. At 496 metres long, 152 metres wide and 113 metres high, with a weight just under 4317 tons it follows the standard of UNSC tactical thinking. On is prow, it mounts a two pronged section, with the upper section being a hive of heavy armour covering a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. Under this is a secondary prow, carrying a nuclear missile launcher is situated. It carries a number of antennas for radio and slip space communication and more for RADAR and SONAR sensor systems. On the main hull it features two bulked out, well armoured ship bays, holding the Katana escort fighters and a handful of the Pelicans. On top of the area it holds a decoy 'bridge', as the bridge is actually buried deep inside the ship. This area carries the observation deck and the MASER systems, a large, powerful MASER dish and the primary RADOME on the ship and along with auxiliary systems. Beneath this is the characteristic troop bay, a section that holds the company of Marines, a number of armoured vehicles, the majority of Pelicans and the drop bays, and landing platforms. The drop bays are used to drop a Pelican out of the Frigate by gravity, while the landing platforms are elevators that descend to deploy any onboard vehicles. Towards the rear of the ship it features, on each side, a large, well armoured engine shield, protecting the relatively delicate engine and drive section of the ship. Both of these are kept in the most heavily armoured ship section. From this come four vectored thrust engines, two providing the main thrust then two providing the majority of manoeuvring power. On each the flank of the ship is the tell tale, bulky launch bays. It carries five on each side, ten in total, with enough room for a Longsword or Pelican in each. Along with carrying an individual fighter, the launch bays contain individual fuel tanks for refuelling the vehicles, cranes that can be used for repair and reloading along with numerous repair gear. This allows Katanas to be refitted to different versions for varying flight missions. All ordnance is carried in conveyor belt bays under the cargo bay, providing on the spot ordnance change. All the external corridors of the ship hold air expanding foam to expand in case of hull breaches. There are also a number of external and internal bulkheads that can be sealed to ensure the ship remains air tight or deter boarders. Internal Layout Internally the layout is conventional, with the sleeping quarters set towards the prow of the ship, with the Cryo bays being set to the starboard of it and the recreational area to the portside. Behind this are the copious food and water storage areas, with the food being stored in refrigerated area and the water using the run off this to remain chilled and kept secure in a titanium aluminide tank, to give it some protection from falling if the Warship is struck. On the underside of the barracks area it holds a reloadable High Orbit Precision Entry Vehicle Launcher. In the mid section, above the infantry spur, is the main cargo area, carrying extra food and water supplies, allowing it to be used as a emergency relief vessel, can be outfitted as extra barracks and Cryo tubes, allowing them to support another company or two, depending if extra vehicles are loaded or not and can even take large tanks of extra fuel. Beneath this is a large, almost foot like spur, which is so nick named the 'ground pounder's foot'. This area belongs to the Marines and houses their own barracks, cryotubes, vehicle bays, workshops, armouries, repair bays, 'dead drop' Pelican bays, landing platforms and even the launching bay for a D03UH-TVMC Petrel. The stern holds the massive Plasma-fusion Drive and the Type-52 Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace drive, protected by the massive 'engine shields', larger, armour plates that protect the vessel from harm. Underneath the engine and covered by the lower forward shield is the life support systems and the oxygen tank. Armament The MAC constitutes of a long, smooth bore barrel which is ringed with electro magnets. Theses are charged by capacitors held to the rear and then these are dumped into the electro magnets in an ordered fashion. A huge amount of current is put through the first solenoid which creates a strong magnetic field which attracts the metal slug that has just been fed by an auto loader. As the slug passes into the solenoid, the solenoid is quickly turned off and the second solenoid, which is further up, turns on, which attracts the now high velocity metal slug just like the first solenoid, and the process is carried on. By the time the slug is fired out the end of the barrel it has been accelerated to a speed 57% of the speed of light. To this end, a slug weighing as much as 600 tons, or more, can be shot out at over half the speed of light. Due to the high power of the engine, and the powerful capacitors, one capacitor charge can fire three consecutive slugs (with five second reloads if using the same kind of rounds) before it has to recharge, which can be up to a minute without effecting other power reliant systems. The MAC is mounted in a linear fashion along the length of the ship, taking up almost half of its length. The ship is armed with an auto loader, using a series of magnetic lifts to pull up the required ammo, either Ferric Tungsten, utilising Tungsten with elements of steel in it to provide a cheaper but strong slug. This is the most popular slug for use, having optimum penetrating power or Depleted Uranium slugs, which are easily the most effective slugs, but being not only the most dangerous but also, repeated and heavy exposure can cause illness, alike to exposure to other radioactive materials or Splinter Slug, which are primarily used against capital ships that the aim is to disable or cause more damage over several areas. It is made up of seven individual slugs held together by nitrocellulose which, upon the friction heat of acceleration, is combusted. It results in a shotgun like blast that tears apart ships. The ship also mounts 28 Archer pods, each carrying 30 model two Archer missiles. The Archer missile, thoroughly modernized, is now a much more capable weapon, using a boosting warhead of a contact explosive that detonates minuscule amounts of nuclear material inside and Karlson-Hughs Sphere, boosting its EM potential, providing a EMP attack that can heavily affect shielding, with the EMP yield increased greatly by the transformer like aluminium coils around them, with the rest of the warhead coated in Light Iridium (An Iridium-Aluminium composite metal) with a primary warhead of a forged fragment ring for penetrating the hull. After that the third warhead, containing a number of penetrating rods covered in tungsten carbide. These punch through several decks of the ship, causing serious damage. While the head is solid tungsten carbide the sides of the penetrating rods are made of forged tungsten fragmenting shell, designed to fragment and cause much more perforation of the ships internal systems with the RDX filler goes off. The Archer is now upgraded with a number of systems to help it bypass ship defence system, such as jet coolant systems, drastically reducing its heat signature, advanced armour, mostly focusing on heat resistance, using heat resistant polymers and a titanium-aluminide heat matrix and a set of second stage boosters for a sudden burst of speed upon terminal approach. For those systems that jam Archer missiles, cutting them off from the ships that launched them, they now have infrared sensors and millimetre wave RADAR, allowing it to home in without the launcher's assistance. To this end, the Archer capabilities has been greatly improved, being both more destructive to shields and hulls of ships and being harder to detect and destroy. Archer pods are arranged on nearly every surface of the ship, providing an all round firing capability. The Firestorm Close-in Weapon System is a point defence weapon for warships to defend against fighter craft. The weapon is made up of two TITAN Lasers held on a dual mount and an AURORA Laser held on a mount on top of the weapon that is turreted separately. These are guided by a computer controlled guidance package, utilising a mixture of millimetre wave RADAR, thermal imagery, jam homing, optical and LIDAR. The weapon is operated by the Area Defence Interception System that allows the Firestorm to be set up in to act in coordination with other vehicles. Usually, depend on the ship its arranged on, they are set up in phalanxes of five, with three as 'primary' targetters and two on 'over watch', with the first three being the priority guns, disabling or destroying the first enemy contacts and the two on over watch covering them while they recharge or engaging any that slip through the defence net. They work in coordination with other phalanxes, point defence lasers and other defence systems to engaging and destroying oncoming fighter and missile constellation. The computer trackers keep up with enemy targets. No 'pre-emptive' fire is needed due to the hit scan nature of the weapons. These weapons can pulse almost 300 times a minute. They are position tactically to provide all round protection on the ship. On each docking bay there is a phalanx on top and on the bottom, there is one on the rear, between the engines, there is one of the top deck, in front of the MASER dish, one on the keel, at the prow of the ship, one midway down the MAC, on both the port and starboard side and one on the troop strut. This gives all round protection. The ship further mounts a number of Thunderstorm Close-in Weapon system. The Thunderstorm Close-in Weapon System is a point defence weapon for warships to defend against fighter craft. The ADIS prioritizes and targets incoming fighters and fires RIM-13 THORN missiles, relying on its dual optical and active RADAR to home in and its stealth to ensure impact. The missile can be set to 'ambush' after a short distance. This can be done on order of the weapons officer or AI to create an 'active minefield' partially or fully around the vessel. The Thunderstorm CIWS is to provide capital ships with a long range fighter defence. Whereas the optical range of the Firestorm is short and limits its use, the Thunderstorm can reach further out fighter constellations. While the Firestorm can usually only engage enemies that have usually unleashed their payload, the Thunderstorm can engage them before they even gain formation. The Thunderstorm is used in one of three ways, either using direct fire, using the ships onboard LIDAR, millimetre wave RADAR and thermal imaging to target and prioritize targets and fire directly upon them, fire upon units hiding with asteroid cover, smoke screens or gaseous clouds that can effect the effectiveness of the Firestorm and use the missiles as traps. They are virtually invisible when cruising or stationary, allowing them to spring into action. They can ambush enemy ships at a close range, eliminating them before their defences come on. The Thunderstorm CIWS fires RIM-13 THORN. It uses dual optical and active RADAR to seek out targets, with three stage rockets. The first is the primary launch booster, the next is the cruiser booster and finally the hyper velocity booster, accelerating it to hyper velocity. Upon nearing the target it releases a spray of flechettes to ensure the target is crippled or destroyed. Much like the Archer it is coated in ablative resin to hide its presence and jet coolants to hide it during the second stage of 'cruising'. These are arranged in phalanxes of two, backing up the existing firestorm phalanxes. The keel strut is armed with a launch tube and rotary loader, allowing it to fire three AVENGER Nuclear missiles in quick succession, though it can be loaded with other kinds of nuclear missiles. Engine The Engine is a Plasma Fusion Drive. This is new generation engine, being used on both UNSC and USR craft and being a joint venture between the two. It uses both the older Covenant technology of fusion of Deuterium and Tritium and older UNSC Technology of Deuterium Fusion. The Covenant technology used fusion of the relatively abundant material and the rarer material to create mediocre levels of energy but this was superheated and fed through magnetic fields to create plasma, of which produced an over abundance of thermal energy, while the UNSC used deuterium fusion to create high levels of energy, though nothing on par of the Covenant reactors. The ship carries a UAE Systems EA-23 Engine, an engine that featured two smaller Deuterium Fusion reactors around a larger 'Dry' fusion Reactors, capable of boosting power out by 480%. An upgraded cooling system is fitted as standard, featuring a laser-induced optical slurry of ions chilled to near-absolute zero that removed the reliance on expendable chemical coolant agents. In essence, the new system provided increased waste heat removal as power output increased. This self-regulating and self-cooling system was critical in combat since it virtually eliminated a commander's concerns about overheating and slagging a ship's engines. The two super charging reactions use conventional deuterium on deuterium reactions to create high levels of Energy. These are cryogenically stored in compressed forms when not in use, as the need to use these engines is rare. The primary engine uses Lithium-hydride Fusion Plant, using the crystalline powder form of LiH. The gravity of the fuel is 0.82 metric tons per cubic meter, making it extremely efficient, meaning it is superior of the need to contain deuterium cryogenically or as plasma. The fusion plant accepts the LiH in the powdered form, which is very fine, allowing it to be transported and pumped like a liquid, though it must be sealed within double lined containers to prevent contact with water, as even the slightest amount of moisture can cause it to dissociate and react violently. What powers reactor is that very dissociation reaction, which liberates extremely large amounts of energy from the fuel with no waste product. The activation energy for this is high, but is secured by the two deuterium reactors. However, in order to contain this, magnetic containment fields are needed, but the densities and confinement times needed are higher than conventional fusion reactors. The core temperature is usually around 600 million degrees Kelvin, and densities are maintained at around 5x1014 nuclei per cubic centimetre. With typical conversion efficiencies this yields around 40 megawatts per litre which is delivered as electrical energy, mostly generated by magneto hydrodynamics couplings. Fuel consumption is around about one sixth of a milligram per second per litre. At that rate, the 600 metric tons of fuel will supply the plant for a year while running at maximum power. The primary UAE rocket motors used for sub light travel and manoeuvre. These are powered directly by the fusion drive, simply by a reaction mass which is placed in contact with plasma from the main reactor, which heats it. The heated gas is then expelled, moving it forward. The reaction mass is industrially created carbon-diamond which sublimates easily in the high reaction heat and creates gaseous thrust without requiring combustion. Carbon Diamond is preferred to water and other reaction masses as its easy to manufacture and its high density. One major problem with water is the possibility that it can spring a leak and react with the stored LiH, blowing the ship sky high. It also leaves no radio emissions wake as it cools. Thrust is controlled by changing the flow rate of carbon through the engine. High flow rates results in little heating and a high thrust, low efficiency burn. If the carbon mass comes to equilibrium with the plasma it creates a low thrust high efficiency burn because of the lower flow rates. When running at top speed the engines can easily shift the ship with a power to weight ratio of 2.1 to 1. Due to the fact it eats fuel at a high rate, these are only used during battle or emergencies with gentler, fuel efficient burns preferred. During cruising it is preferred that the ship drifts, sustained by short bursts from the engine. The rocket motors feature vectored nozzles, using four vectored plates of heavy duty heat resistant ceramic materials. These are arranged diagonally, on the engine, allowing it to more agilely move on both the Y and X axis at the same time, greatly improving manoeuvring during combat situations. The primary rockets are not used for manoeuvring as much, preferring to use the manoeuvring rockets for such duties, as some manoeuvring on the primary rockets is interrupted by the engine shields there to protect them. The engine outlets have infrared suppressors to disguise the engine flare. A secondary back up systems exist, four United North American Defence Systems CV-5 magnetohydrodynamic turbines which can generate 30 to 40 megawatts each. these can substitue the main reactor or the booster reactors in emergancies and are situated beside the launch bays. Armour The armour is coated in a laminated shell of insulators to protect the ship during re-entry and provides crude ablative defence against energy weapons. Underneath this is RADAR absorbent materials then the primary composite hull made up of a layer of titanium for ballistic defence and ablative energy weapon defence. Along with this, layers of Boron Carbide shatter ballistic weapons and provide ablative energy defence. Underneath this layers of thermal energy absorbing layers and kinetic absorbing layers. Underneath is an aero gel layer that absorbs spalling and dissipates both background radiation and radiation does of up to 180 kilograys from directed energy weapons and nuclear fallout. Beneath this is a layer of foam that is secured in an air tight layer. When exposed to air through a hull breach it expands rapidly and fills the breach, providing it is small, making the ship air tight once again, if only for a time. Shielding The Heimdall-class uses a Corinth Mark VI Projected Energy Defence System, made by Katakes-Robinson Company. This robust shield generator, of Grade 3 standard, allows it to stand against covenant vessels of similar tonnage in combat. It can resistant a single MAC round, three plasma lancesand numerous blasts from pulse lasers, Necros lasers or missiles of varying kinds and can directly resistant both a nuclear warhead, of similar power to the AVENGER or a energy projector hit. The strrain on the reactor is actually surprisingly minimalistic, though recharging it requires significant power. Power can be redirected from other systems to charge it or reinforce it, the emergancy fusion power plants or the 4 CV-5 magnetohydrodynamic turbines which can generate 30 to 40 megawatts each. Recharge time, as standard, is around about 1 minute without enemy fire to begin recharging, with it recharging in about 2.25 minutes. The energy shielding is projected across the whole hull but drops to allow fighters and ordnance to leave and exhaust gasses from the engine. Should a section be damaged, the local shield transmitter may no longer be able to project shielding to that section. Systems *Shaw-Fujikawa model 52 ::The newest model Shaw Fujikawa slipspace drive uses a particle accelerator dervied from Covenant systems to minutely create and control a black hole in time space, cutting a hole in into slipstream space. The process is much more elegant, with sling particle drives assisting it by sustain the hole and enlarging it. This allows UNSC vessels to create accurate and and safe 'gates' without excessive force, meaning the newer drives take less time to charge. The drive is capable of going to similar speeds of Covenant and USR drives. The drive is protected by intense anti gravity sheilding, allowing it to cut holes in gravitational fields. *Sensors **Multispectrum Optical AI assisted camera network **Millimetre Wave RADAR **LIDAR ::The Heimdall-class uses an array of sensor systems, all mounted on forward pylons. These are aimed away from the ship so its bulk does not interfere with them. It has a optical telescope, infrared telescope, with twelve meter appertures, Optical and spectrographic information from these are supported by a a radio telescope array and this is then supplemented by a secondary array for passive monitoring of the electromagnetic spectrum. Along with this it mounts a millimeter wave RADOME that can detect 2m2 objects at distances of 5000 km and 100m2 objects at 90,000km. Along with this numerous phased array RADARs provide close tracking of targets for weapon systems to supplement optical systems. Numerous LIDAR lasers also cover the ship, providing a accurate threat idnetification system. The RADAR and LIDAR systems can give away the ships position. * AI assisted Slipspace 'MAZE' directional router ::The MAZE system is a slip space directional router, basically a AI guided Slipspace guidance system. Though it can operate autonomously it requires a AI to observe its actions and ensure it makes no mistakes, if only for peace of mind. It got identify and follow various 'eddies' and 'strings', being capable of accuratly avoiding any hazards or potential elements that may slow down the journey. *AI/Manual driven computer supported pilot systems ::The Drive system focuses on either a manual, manual AI assisted or AI solo drive system either through neural interface of manual controls on the ships rather rudimentary pilot system, making use of joysticks. These filter through to the vectored nozzles on the ships engines, and while on manouvres, only the manouvering rockets are used, though the primary rockets can be used. Also, they have access to the use of emergancy boosters, though the AI can override this if nessacary. *AI Assisted ADIS ::The Area Defence and Interception System protects the ship from harm across its immediate area by directing point defence systems. Firestorm Close-in Weapon System provide the primary interception system with the dual THOR lasers being arranged in phalanxes of five, with the first three being the main interception lasers and the rear line two being 'over watch' engaging any targets that slip past. These are supported by a M980 Weapon Anti Ordinance/Anti Material Defence Weapon secondary turret on every turret that engages any incoming missiles. Furthermore these are supported by a phalanx of two Thunderstorm Close-in Weapon System that annhilates enemy fighters evading lasers through various means or providing a minefield, at the command of the AI. These are all guided through the close range Phased Array RADARs, optical systems, primary RADOME and radio scanner systems. It can identify and egnage up to 600 targets. Up to 100 with AI assistance. *Communications **MASER Dish **Slipspace carrier wave projector **PROXIMA System ::UNSC vessels user MASER dishes, a dish that sends out coded microwaves that provide near instant intrasystem communication. These allow ships to remain in contact. As a back up, they contain a PROXIMA system, consisting of a radio attennae and several microwave relays that can both pick up and send information across a shortrange and communicate with ground forces. UNSC vessels also have the power to launch accurate carrier waves through slipspace by making a miniscule hole in slipspace and projecting encoded light emmissions through them. These are picked up and decoded by listening posts that relay the messages to the inteded destination. *War Net Integrated computer ::The War Net provides a total analysis of the battlefield and linked targetting information and combat details through encoded radio and MASER transmissions. This links all warships in combat, From single man fighters to might Dreadnoughts. *Torpedo counter guidance system ::The TCGS can redirect enemy plasma torpedeos by interuppting and intefering with thier magnetic guidance systems with a similar system, forcing the weapon away from its inteded target. It has limited effectiveness on Lance weapons as well. *Decoy Launcher ::The Decoy Launcher launches ballutes are ballons made from tough materials powered by a minimal reactor. Due to a lack of any stealth features, they resembele its parent ship on RADAR and optically, causing confusion with enemy gunners, though mechanical systems are harder to fool. These can be launched to cover the ship, seemingly increase the numbers of attacking forces or defelcting attacks away from it. *High Orbit Precision Entry Vehicle Launcher ::These are the successors to the HEVs and are design to give marines a fast, stealth and safe method of aerial entry. These can be fired from low orbit or even from within a planets atmosphere. These are kept on one corridor, with ten loaded. These are further fed from a magazine of three more for every position. These are kept in place by magnetic locks. They feature vectored thrust rockets to allow direction on alttitude, guided by the occupant, coolant jets, stealth features, a shield and a gravitational support field. This ensures massive survival rates of users. Capabilities The Heimdall-class Frigate is a extremely capable and adaptable warship, being capable of performing main line warship duties, patrols, escorts, planetary invasions and hit and run. The ship is tough, readily availible, fast, well armoured and well armed, being capable of destroying much larger ships in packs and capable of fending off swathes of fighters with its own defence systems and its fighter capacity. It can also commit to planetary invasions, being one of the few UNSC classes capable of planetary landings. It can land and deploy war machines and marines directly to the surface while also delivering air vehicles. Due to its cheap production costs and its easy construction, it is one of the most seen UNSC warships as well. Construction The ship is extremely simple and easy to construct, with many shipyards across the UNSC being capable of constructing the ship to to its simplicity and ease of design. The ship can be laid down in just under six months at normal work pace though at war time it is possible to decrease this to 3 months. The ship is built simply, mostly around a heavy yet flexible frame of solid titanium-b. This is incredibly hardy and is coated in heat resistant materials and, if need be, cryogenically cooled. This means while it has some flex, it does not expand or distort, especially on reentry, meaning the ship does not tear itself apart or steadily become more unstable. From this point the ship is built up from the back, with the reactors going in first then the internal corridors before the nuclear launch bay and the MAC are finally loaded. The observation deck is added at this point as it is a seperate and independant section, not part of the ships main frame. The ship is 'skinned' then 'armoured' before the missile and point defence weapons are added. The engines are inserted and the ship painted, before external tech systems are added and the ship is loaded. At this point, the ship is combat ready. Operational History The first Heimdall-class went into operation with the 'long range patrols' around Kanna, escorting a refitted Pheonix-class Colony ship, now the Phoenix-class Cruiser-Carrier, the UNSC Kaliningrad, outfitted for long distance in system patrols. They encountered a squadron of frigates in dispersed formation and the UNSC Heimdall destroyed one and crippled another in a exchange of fire with out taking any return damage, its shield holding against their pulse lasers. This event was later televised, first system wide and then UEG wide. The Heimdall became a symbol of the new UNSC and prior to rearmament it was seen as one of the biggest technological leaps made in years. Soon frigates were being pulled off the line to be refitted or replaced, with 25 being produced in the first year and that figure doubling the next and remaining at a constant since then. Soon Heimdall-class replaced every type of older frigate design and its sister design, the Loki, replacing the Shadow-class Frigate. Soon, the whole fleet was being replaced with ships borne from the Heimdall. Heimdalls continued to see service through the revival of the Remnant, being a reminder of how powerful the UNSC had grown to the Brutes and then into the Necros war. Despite being often outnumbered and outgunned by the Legion-class Frigate they remind in superiority by better tactics and agility. Variants The Loki-class Stealth Frigate was a variant of the Heimdall. The hull was remodified to give it stealth features and was outfitted with stealth systems, both internally and externally, allowing it to operate as a ambushing warship and ferry for Black Ops. UNSC Comments "I served for four years on the Heimdall, before that, serving on the Marathon-class UNSC Defender. Nothing feels better than to have something between you, the armour and the plasma." "Finally, Frigates aren't throw away ships, they can make a stand against Remnant or Pirate vessels of the same tonnage!" "I watched a lotta ships get crippled or destroyed by a single hit from a Covenant vessel, that ain't gonna happen as much now!" Ships of the line *UNSC Heimdall *UNSC Red Tide *UNSC Nerves of Steel *UNSC Northumbria *UNSC Sol *UNSC Brawler *UNSC Dragoon *UNSC Black Guard *UNSC Last Order *UNSC Sefirosu *UNSC Aeris *UNSC Strife